Houma museum project receives $145,000 from council

Published: Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at 7:56 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at 7:56 a.m.

The Terrebonne Parish Council has decided to give the Veterans District all of the money it received this year from the state's Local Government Assistance program for its museum expansion.

The district, which oversees the Regional Military Museum on Barrow Street and Veterans Park on La. 311 near St. Charles Street, will receive about $145,000 to add to the budget for its museum project.

The council unanimously voted to approve the allocation after the idea was introduced by Parish President Michel Claudet.

The parish was given the money and is allowed to use it for anything that assists with community projects. After the Veteran's District was forced to use a chunk of its budget to repair the bulkhead at Veterans Park, Claudet said he thought it would be a great option and benefit to the district.

“The district's board members used a bulk of the money they got from taxes to repair the bulkhead at the Veterans Park on 311, which was sinking. That was great because now that's stabilized. But they don't have that money to put towards constructing their new building.”

Christ said board members decided to use more than $300,000 to repair the bulkhead and purchase another building directly across the street from the museum. These projects took up what Christ called a “big chunk of our expansion money.”

“But it needed to be done,” Christ said.

The bulkhead repair was needed to separate the land the park sits on from the adjacent bayou. The property across the street was needed to secure parking for the museum once expansion is complete and for more storage space.

“There's not much room around here,” Christ said about the museum. “The space we're in now was adequate maybe in 2004-2005, but it's not adequate anymore. We're supposed to get another tank soon, and we've got another airplane coming. We're growing by leaps and bounds.”

The Veteran's District and local veterans first approached the council for permission to expand in early 2010. The goal is to have more space to display the thousands of documents, uniforms, equipment and other military artifacts they have assembled through the years.

In November 2010, voters approved a new property tax that will allow the district to collect about $3.8 million over a decade.

In Louisiana, property taxes are collected using a calculation called a mill, and the first $75,000 of a property's value is exempt from taxes.

For the owner of a $100,000 home, the half-mill veterans-district tax will cost $1.25 annually. The tax would cost the owner of a $250,000 house $8.75 annually and the owner of a $500,000 house $21.25 annually.

The group sold $1.7 million in bonds to begin the expansion project and to repair the bulkhead adjacent to the bayouside park. The bonds are essentially IOUs that will be repaid using the tax money as it is collected.

The museum has more than 4,000 artifacts, including dozens of uniforms, photos, medals, vehicles and weapons. Much of that is in storage, including a true-to-size World War II torpedo bomber model that hung inside the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans for about nine years, Christ said. Three jeeps, two working track-laying vehicles and a bevy of firearms and swords are also in storage in various parts of the parish.

Claudet said he plans to allocate as much money as he can from the Local Government Assistance Program to the museum construction.

“This comes around each year so there will be another one of these grants. I think the board deserves this help so there'll be more where that came from,” Claudet said.

Danny Picou, a Chauvin resident who's very involved with the museum, said he's ecstatic about the parish's support for the project and local veterans.

“Michel Claudet definitely deserves praise for this. I think this is great. Anything that's done in this parish to show our veterans they have support is wonderful because they definitely need it. I'm so happy Mr. Claudet is doing this for them,” Picou said.

“I've been giggling ever since I found out. This is great,” Christ said.

<p>The Terrebonne Parish Council has decided to give the Veterans District all of the money it received this year from the state's Local Government Assistance program for its museum expansion. </p><p>The district, which oversees the Regional Military Museum on Barrow Street and Veterans Park on La. 311 near St. Charles Street, will receive about $145,000 to add to the budget for its museum project. </p><p>“We'll take it,” said C.J. Christ, museum founder and Veterans District board member. “Wow. That's awesome.” </p><p>The council unanimously voted to approve the allocation after the idea was introduced by Parish President Michel Claudet. </p><p>The parish was given the money and is allowed to use it for anything that assists with community projects. After the Veteran's District was forced to use a chunk of its budget to repair the bulkhead at Veterans Park, Claudet said he thought it would be a great option and benefit to the district. </p><p>“The district's board members used a bulk of the money they got from taxes to repair the bulkhead at the Veterans Park on 311, which was sinking. That was great because now that's stabilized. But they don't have that money to put towards constructing their new building.”</p><p>Christ said board members decided to use more than $300,000 to repair the bulkhead and purchase another building directly across the street from the museum. These projects took up what Christ called a “big chunk of our expansion money.” </p><p>“But it needed to be done,” Christ said. </p><p>The bulkhead repair was needed to separate the land the park sits on from the adjacent bayou. The property across the street was needed to secure parking for the museum once expansion is complete and for more storage space. </p><p>“There's not much room around here,” Christ said about the museum. “The space we're in now was adequate maybe in 2004-2005, but it's not adequate anymore. We're supposed to get another tank soon, and we've got another airplane coming. We're growing by leaps and bounds.”</p><p>The Veteran's District and local veterans first approached the council for permission to expand in early 2010. The goal is to have more space to display the thousands of documents, uniforms, equipment and other military artifacts they have assembled through the years.</p><p>In November 2010, voters approved a new property tax that will allow the district to collect about $3.8 million over a decade. </p><p>In Louisiana, property taxes are collected using a calculation called a mill, and the first $75,000 of a property's value is exempt from taxes.</p><p>For the owner of a $100,000 home, the half-mill veterans-district tax will cost $1.25 annually. The tax would cost the owner of a $250,000 house $8.75 annually and the owner of a $500,000 house $21.25 annually.</p><p>The group sold $1.7 million in bonds to begin the expansion project and to repair the bulkhead adjacent to the bayouside park. The bonds are essentially IOUs that will be repaid using the tax money as it is collected. </p><p>The museum has more than 4,000 artifacts, including dozens of uniforms, photos, medals, vehicles and weapons. Much of that is in storage, including a true-to-size World War II torpedo bomber model that hung inside the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans for about nine years, Christ said. Three jeeps, two working track-laying vehicles and a bevy of firearms and swords are also in storage in various parts of the parish.</p><p>Claudet said he plans to allocate as much money as he can from the Local Government Assistance Program to the museum construction. </p><p>“This comes around each year so there will be another one of these grants. I think the board deserves this help so there'll be more where that came from,” Claudet said. </p><p>Danny Picou, a Chauvin resident who's very involved with the museum, said he's ecstatic about the parish's support for the project and local veterans. </p><p>“Michel Claudet definitely deserves praise for this. I think this is great. Anything that's done in this parish to show our veterans they have support is wonderful because they definitely need it. I'm so happy Mr. Claudet is doing this for them,” Picou said. </p><p>“I've been giggling ever since I found out. This is great,” Christ said.</p>